Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today on the Power Walk Ministries broadcast with pastor and teacher Reverend Paul Cannings. This week, Dr. Cannings brings us a new series, God Reigns Supreme, based on Psalm 86. In this psalm, David cries out to God about his hard situation in life, and we see how he overcomes that distress because of who God is.

So where do we go when life's trials leave us without any sense of hope? Challenging us to understand God's nature even in our difficult circumstances, here's Pastor Cannings now with the message, "He Cares About You."

Dr. Paul Cannings: How often do the circumstances that we may be facing today cause us to think that God is absent? We don't see him moving to address these marital issues that persist and have been persisting for a while. How many times do you feel like the issues you face in your church, that you wish God would address them and make a difference so that the church could be what you believe God has called it to be, but it's not happening?

How often do you feel like when you go to your job, the circumstances are extremely stressful and you're just overwhelmed? And that being overwhelmed is like standard, wishing for God to just spread something into your heart that will strengthen you and keep you going. How often have you felt like that? Well, that's exactly what David is feeling here in Psalm 86.

Psalm 86 finds David feeling that he's in a state of poverty, not having the resources that he felt he needed to have. It's like another Goliath. He feels that he is in a needy position and that this is something that he cannot handle without God. So when he is in this process of feeling overwhelmed, feeling somewhat defeated, David says to us in Psalm 86:5, "For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." This is a powerful verse that we plant ourselves in for today.

This is what he says: "For thou, Lord," and he repeats "Lord" quite often. He's not just saying it one time in this passage and then he moves on. It's about six or seven times he keeps repeating, "Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord." Why is that so huge in David's mind? Many times circumstances cause us to forget who God is. Circumstances, whether they're finances, whatever they may be, cause us to think that God is absent.

And it's good to remind ourselves that he is Lord. There are several different connotations to this word Lord. Many times we would see it attached to a covenant, that God is never going to leave me, he's never going to forsake me. And he's so committed to who I am that he knows the numbers of hairs on my head. That God is ever present.

In our structure, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, and the Bible says he is sealed for the day of redemption, meaning he is with us until the rapture. So he's never going to leave us. So when he says he's never going to leave us or forsake us, it literally is the presence of the Holy Spirit inside of us and the fact that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father and that he's everywhere all at the same time. God is everywhere all at the same time. Holy Spirit is everywhere all at the same time. So there's no place we could go that they're not.

Therefore he is Lord. So when we think of this word Lord and we look at it in the sense of a covenant, we can rest assured that there is no place, nothing we could do, that God would ever not be there. The issue isn't whether or not he's there. The issue is whether or not we trust that he's there. But many times we put God within a box, a box that we live in because we are people that have a beginning and an end.

We don't think of a God that has no beginning and no end. We can't seem to sometimes reference that. People like Paul had to hold on to that. People like Daniel had to hold on to that in the midst of all that they dealt with. In this connotation of Lord, it also means one who has all authority and all power to get everything done that he needs done.

So we're talking about a person who is powerful enough, no matter what I'm facing in this life, no matter how overwhelming the circumstances may be, I know that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly all we could ever ask or think. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly. That's why Paul would say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I'm more than a conqueror through Christ."

Because Paul got to the realization that shipwrecked, beaten, put in jail, it didn't matter what he was experiencing because the Lord is my strength. So Paul started to realize that as long as I stay in the word of God, and that's what the writer of Hebrews would say in chapter 4:12, that the word of God is powerful and sharper than a double-edged sword. You have Isaiah in Isaiah 55:11 that would say the word never returns void.

Peter would say it endures forever. So if I remain in the word of God, then I hold to the word of God. There's no way it could fail because it never returns void. There's no way it wouldn't cut bone and marrow and make my way through whatever thick situation I may be in. And there is no way that when I look at the word of God that it will not continue on, no matter what my life takes me through.

So if I choose to endure, we can hold on to our level of faith because he has all authority, all power. That's why we're more than conquerors, so we can do all things through Christ to accomplish anything. There's another part attached to this word Lord, and this word Lord also has to do with he desires a relationship with us. This is why the whole issue of covenant. He desires a relationship with us.

In other words, we're not the one chasing him, he's chasing us. That's one of the beautiful things about Luke 12:31-34. He says, "Seek me first." In other words, if you seek me, you will find me. Why? I'm everywhere all at the same time and I live inside of you. That's why he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. I live inside of you, so you're looking for something that's already there.

You just have to open up your eyes, and the struggles of your life have made you think dark. And as a result of that, instead of seeing by believing, we end up giving up believing and we become more dark. So we can't seem to find him when he's saying, "I'm already here." That's why it's certain that when you seek me, you will find me. But you have to so trust me that no matter what you're going through, you're constantly seeking to experience what God is teaching you.

Because you believe in James chapter 1 where he says, "I mature people through trials." You see in Hebrews chapter 12 that, "I discipline those whom I love." So when you're thinking that there's wrong, I am seeking to develop you to be right, so you learn by faith to live righteous. Many times when we are walking through these circumstances, we have to remember that God is the one seeking relationship with us.

When we got saved, we weren't seeking him. The Bible says no man sought God in Romans chapter 3:9-11. He sought us. So he was chasing us. And John chapter 6:44 says he drew us to him. That's why we are saved by a gift of God, not by our works. So how is it that we have to then try to talk him into having a relationship with us? No, it's not that at all.

The Bible is saying we've just got to put our faith to work and we'll experience what's already there. So please understand these connotations to why David is repeating it over and over again. And David is writing the psalm as being sung by the people that were in the temple of the sons of Korah, because of how they saw what David was going through and he trusted in the Lord God.

The word Lord could also mean, and we've got to look at the context to determine that, Adonai, the one who fights for me. So in other words, we don't have to worry about fixing the problem. We have to be committed to learn how to live in God's word through the problem because he's the one that fights. He's the sword. Everything on our armor is very defensive when you pick up the shield of faith, or you put on the breastplate of righteousness, or the shoes of peace, or the belt of truth.

Seems very defensive. But there's one offensive weapon that is there: the sword of the spirit. In other words, we have to keep walking in the word because the spirit of God is our victory. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. He is the victory. It's not how smart we could be, how level of education we may have, and how great accomplishments we may have on that job.

None of those things are relevant. What's relevant in the situation is, will I hold to the word of God or will I not? If you get into the circumstance without looking at God in the circumstance, then the circumstance will defeat you. So instead of the enemy defeating me to become something that I don't need to be, God is going to allow that if we stay focused in this Adonai and hold to his word.

He fights for us because his word does not return void. His word is a sword and it's powerful and could defeat anything. That's why you would find the Bible starts off with words. God made this by his word because all things are through him and for him through Jesus Christ, Colossians chapter 1. And that's why John would say, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word is God," because God is showing us from the beginning it's my word that put all things into being.

So just hold to my word, and I'm Adonai, I'll fight for you. David says, "The problem with you, Goliath, is this: number one, you're a Philistine. You can't go down to the temple and get your sins forgiven. And then you did the worst thing. You cursed God's army. You can't curse God's army and live, and you're a dead man. What do I get for killing you?" It wasn't the fact that David was a young lad, 16 probably, not tall or strapping.

David was not that big in height. But Saul was tall, had armor. That didn't work because he's looking at the enemy on the outside. David is looking at the power on the inside, his anointing. And he's going to hold to the word of God. It's a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path. And I hide the word in my heart that I may not sin against him. David is focusing on this word because the Lord has already won the battle.

That's what he literally says. "I'm just going through the process of defeating you because God is done with this." So folks, when we look at the struggles of this life, we will praise David for all that we say, "Oh, look at what David accomplished." No. Look at how David trusted God so God can accomplish a lot through him. So when life is overwhelming, David keeps repeating what we need to remember repeatedly, and that is, he is Lord and I need to trust the one who is Lord.

You know who reminds me of this? My grandkids. Sometimes I take them out, my wife and I, and we've got all seven. And we take them out, and anytime the circumstances look different. We could tell when something just isn't right because they tend to huddle together and slowly move towards us. I'm not six-ten, 275 pounds, all muscle. My wife is five-foot on a good day.

So they're looking at the fact that your love makes me safe. Your commitment to me makes me trust you. Your consistency in how you consistently do things for us, that no matter what happens, you will never let anyone do anything to us. They teach me that my Lord is Lord. No matter what's going on around me, the safest place to run is to him. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Pastor Cannings. Even in his lament, we find David praising and worshipping God. Yes, God cares about every single one of us. So may we trust in him more each day.

Dr. Paul Cannings: I am so excited about April the 23rd through the 25th because it is a conference with lots of notes, great teachers, well-educated, well-prepared, do what they're teaching in their churches. You cannot miss this conference. Come April the 23rd through the 25th at Living Word Fellowship Church. Come and be blessed.

The conference is The Way Forward: How can we be productive despite the challenges ministries can experience? You go to powerwalkministries.org and you will get all the information you need. Powerwalkministries.org. Look forward to seeing you.

Guest (Male): Power Walk Ministries is a listener-supported broadcast, so we ask you to partner with us by making a one-time or ongoing financial contribution. To do so, log on to powerwalkministries.org. That's powerwalkministries.org.

Or call us at area 281-260-7402. That's 281-260-7402. Our mailing address is Power Walk Ministries, P.O. Box 920517, Houston, Texas, 77092. And now remember that God is for us. It is we who have to put our faith to work in order to experience all that God offers, just as David profoundly states in Psalm 86. So take a look at it and let's apply it to our lives.